Stabroek News Managing Director gets U.S. award
Guyana Chronicle
March 14, 2007
MRS. Doreen DeCaires, Managing Director of the Stabroek News newspaper has been awarded the United States Women of Courage Award.
The U.S. embassy here yesterday said that during a March 8 ceremony in Washington, Condoleezza Rice announced the Secretary of State's Award for International Women of Courage to recognize women around the globe who have shown exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for women's rights and advancement.
The embassy said the Guyana honouree of the Women of Courage Award is Doreen DeCaires.
U.S. Ambassador David M. Robinson will present an award certificate along with a letter from Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula J. Dobriansky to DeCaires tomorrow, the embassy said.
DeCaires has also been Vice-President of the Beacon Foundation charitable organisation for 25 years and up to recently was Chairman of the Guyana Public Hospital Corporation board.
Secretary Rice in her statement said that through this annual award, the U.S. will honour the courage of extraordinary women worldwide who have played transformative roles in their societies.
She said: “The enfranchisement of women can no longer be a simple aspiration. Women are essential agents in bringing about change and an often overlooked resource in the preservation of human security, in overcoming transnational dangers, and in managing threats arising from tyranny, trafficking, poverty, and disease. Achieving the United States' mission of advancing democracy, prosperity, and security worldwide is not possible without the empowerment of women. If women cannot participate in the political process, there can be no real democracy. If women are deprived of economic opportunity, development is crippled. If women are not educated, they cannot pass knowledge to their children, and there is no true security for the next generation.”
Rice said this is why the U.S. is committed to sustained efforts to improve the political, social, and economic standing of women everywhere.